


Three Things

by poisonapplecat



Category: 1bitHeart (Video Game)
Genre: Drabble (mostly), Light Spoilers For Post-Game (not too explicit but still), M/M, Nanashi is a nerd and so is Natsukage, Pretty Fluffy but some Light Contemplative Angst is included (batteries are NOT included)
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-04-15
Updated: 2018-04-15
Packaged: 2019-04-23 03:13:16
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,390
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14323314
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/poisonapplecat/pseuds/poisonapplecat
Summary: Nanashi, if he could allow himself to be selfish enough to even admit it, did actually hold a fondness for three specific things above all others, no matter his motto of loving everything equally. He couldn't help it, but he'd certainly never meant for them to have any real sway in his life.Too bad a certain indigo-themed teen fit those three things to a T.





	Three Things

**Author's Note:**

> Again, this is post-game, set it the near future of the end of Chapter 4, so still in 2222. 
> 
> The altered timeline, as I remember, worked with all the events still sorta happening once the future peeps left, but the specifics and the memories of the future peeps (Misane and ProblematicFave!Nanashi) having not been there. I tried to research that specifically before writing but all it got me were some tears a the Good End and pretty funny shitpost.
> 
> (This ambiguity in the specifics means I made it so that the events of the game -- the whole hacking stuff -- aren't necessarily remembered but it could still work as if they are remembered. it's ambiguous enough when it refers to that time period.) (sorry for that slight inconvenience tho, I'm replaying the game currently but if anyone wants to refresh me on that specific detail, I'd really appreciate it.)

 

 

 While Nanashi could honestly say he loved everything equally, he had to admit -- if only just to himself -- there were three things that pleased him most. At least, things that he would consider more selfish, as these things had nothing to do with helping others.

 

 Content as he was to stay hidden away in his room all day, there were three things that made everything so much better.

 

 One: Sport themed video games.

 

 Many of his favorite games involved an emphasis on talking to and helping out others so, even if he was currently complying by being a shut-in, he could still get the _feeling_ of helping others, even if it wasn’t quite the real thing.

 

 However, he’d at one point discovered the pleasure of sport simulator games, and even though he knew he’d likely die on the spot trying even the simplest of moves in real life, he had a blast with them in the virtual environment. Even though he was pretty sure he’d never play a sport for the rest of his life, the general premise was still interesting and fun, and it even led to him more actively checking on sports channels on TV.

 

Two: Cute animals, or cute things in general.

 

 While he had to admit this one was a bit general, and that his romantic taste definitely wasn’t confined to “cute”, he knew he had a weakness for cute animals. One of the reasons he’d made his BitPhones resemble bunny ears was because he’d recently seen an anime with the cutest rabbit in the whole world in it, and couldn’t resist the design.

 

 He was able to waste hours every day simply browsing through pictures and videos of cute animals, and even though -- if someone were to ask him -- he would say he had no preference, bunnies seemed to be the little critter he searched most.

 

 He even loved cute actions. Some TV shows had actors that even though they weren’t particularly cute in way of the common traits, their character would, every now and then, do something that was undeniably cute.

 

 So yeah, he likes cute things. But even then, there was one more indulgence.

 

 Three: Pink.

 

 It would likely be pretty obvious just looking at his outfit, even more so for anyone who’d ever stepped foot in his room -- though that list was very, _very_ short.

 

 He didn’t know what exactly drew him to the color -- maybe it was because it was soft, or even that it was cute, he didn’t know. But it tended to calm him and excite him at the same time.

 

 None of these three things meant much to him for the longest time and they certainly had little to no sway in how he lived his life.

 

 If he had a few things that he liked more than others, then so be it. He wouldn’t let it affect mindset or his goal in life.

 

 At least, he never would have imagined three simple, almost unimportant things would hold much sway.

 

 He’d forgotten the exact reason he’d left his life as a shut-in behind.  He was so sure there was a reason; he even felt as if something in him had fundamentally changed, but for the life of him, he couldn’t quite remember what had changed or why. Just the when.

 

 The when, in which he left his home for the first time in a long while.

 

 The when, in which he’d made a few friends.

 

 The when, in which he’d met Natsukage Suoh.

 

 The other teen often treated Nanashi quite coldly, brushing him off, calling him weird, and doing his best to avoid interaction with him most days. He was the first friend Nanashi had made in a very long time, though, so he had no intentions of letting go.

 

 He _would_ make Natsukage like him. Then, he could make Natsukage happy, and making others happy was Nanashi’s favorite hobby.

 

 He’d tried a _lot_ to try to get Natsukage to like him more. It often felt out of character and just plain wrong if what he did ended up truly annoying the other, so he liked to narrow down his attempts to gifts, though even that seemed to bug Natsukage. The boy would often state that they were already friends so Nanashi didn’t need to try like that anymore, and when Nanashi told him he knew that, he’d just tell him to stop.

 

 Maybe that was a side effect of what had changed within himself recently. For some reason, he couldn’t control the instinct within himself to search for something just a bit deeper than a simple icon on his friends list, something more than just a series of numbers.

 

 He didn’t know how or why he’d suddenly gotten this instinct, but it had been in the “when” surrounding his first meeting with Natsukage.

 

 If he could only be allowed this one indulgence, this one selfish wish, maybe he could help Natsukage out more, maybe he could make something selfless from his selfishness.

 

 Well, that was the logic he used to explain it on an outer level, of course. But deep inside…

 

 He knew there were three things he loved more than anything else, no matter how selfish it was to love any one thing more than all the rest.

 

 One: He had an odd fascination for sport simulators and even sports on TV.

 

 He’d seen Natsukage before properly meeting him, on TV, during the Sky-Sea-Run Nationals. Watching sports on TV was pretty similar to playing the games, even if you had less control over it, because what Nanashi got out of it was more in the way of being in awe at the maneuvers the players pulled off, not in pulling them off himself. In all honesty, Natsukage had been one of the coolest players that day, and whenever Nanashi went to watch him practice -- Yukinaga would always let him in even if Natsukage would always tell him to leave -- he still found himself marveling at the skill the other teen had.

 

 Two: He liked cute things.

 

 While most people would say the indigo boy fell closer to “cool” than “cute”, Nanashi had to say -- though it pained him somewhat to do so -- that most people were dead wrong.

 

 Natsukage wasn't traditionally cute, of course, but certain things stood out. One of Nanashi’s favorites was the dolphin drawing that looked so much like an orca and how much that seemed to embarrass him. Even how he’d gotten the nickname “Orca” -- with even cuter variations like “Orkun” -- was adorable.

 

 Another odd thing that was _definitely_ cute was how Natsukage found it too troublesome to dry off his clothes and had just accepted being anywhere between damp and soaked whenever he was out of practice. That pure resistance to drying off was also inexplicably cute.

 

 And though Nanashi was slowly moving away from being fine with people calling him all sorts of awful things -- though he couldn’t recall _why_ this change had happened -- he still had to admit: That little, annoyed frown Natsukage had was super cute. Something about his scowl seemed more endearing than frightening, though that viewpoint was probably just another thing that made Nanashi weird…

 

And Three: He liked pink.

 

 Natsukage didn’t have a lot of pink on him -- he never claimed he even like the color, and nothing about him was bathed in it like Nanashi was.

 

 However…

 

 Little streaks of his hair, the emblem on his uniform, that embarrassed blush on his cheeks when someone brought up the dolphin/orca drawing…

 

 It was small, it was minuscule, and it was rare… but it was _there_ , and it was damn-near _teasing_ in just how little of it showed.

 

 Nanashi would begin to wonder things when he saw that brief glimpse of pink: If he were to mess with Natsukage’s hair a bit, would the pink stay in streaks or would there be more underneath? Did he have any other clothes with pink on them? What does he look like in them? For that matter, what does he look like _dry_?

 

 If he _were_ to see these moments, would he also see that same blush Natsukage had when someone brought up the whole orca ordeal? Or would it be even more intense of a blush?

 

 Maybe he would scowl, and that would be cute, too.

 

 Maybe Nanashi would never see him out of his uniform without it being just his swimsuit during practice, and that was fine too, because Nanashi was enthralled with how the boy moved on the water, whether he cared that Nanashi was there or not.

 

 And maybe Nanashi couldn’t understand _why,_ or _how_ , or even _who with_ he’d changed to have these thoughts, even if he only allowed himself to really consider these thoughts when he was all alone and the darkness around him seemed loud, or those extremely rare moments that he let his mind go blank around others. Maybe he never would understand, and maybe he would never admit it to himself.

 

 After all, he couldn’t allow three small things to be superior to the whole rest of the world.

 

 After all, he couldn’t imagine Natsukage would even like to hear that Nanashi thought these things at all, and he didn’t want to make the other boy unhappy -- that was against his motto.

 

 After all, if he couldn’t understand it, how could he admit, even to himself, that just a bit, just the smallest amount, he liked himself? Especially after so many years of being certain he hated himself and _especially_ having no clear reason on why that had changed recently…

 

 And if he couldn’t allow, couldn’t imagine, couldn’t _admit_ , then how on Earth could he ever explain to Natsukage that he wanted something more than just a checked box on a “Friends To Make” list? How could he explain that he just wanted to see Natsukage so he could enjoy the traits he liked about the teen without sounding selfish or stumbling on his words to the point that his mind shatters from sheer awkwardness?

 

 It was all just so confusing to Nanashi -- he’d never had to think about these things in relation to other people to this extent before, and to this familiarity…

 

 How dare he even consider liking himself when he couldn’t ev---

 

 Nanashi’s thoughts were suddenly cut off by someone calling his name, startling him back into the present, away from the intrusive thoughts that had stolen into his mind while he was distracted.

 

 It took him a moment to fully come back to reality and realize he was in the 307 Tower, specifically in the training area for Sky-Sea-Run players, and that Natsukage was looking right at him.

 

 “Woah!” Nanashi yelped. “Natsukage! I didn’t notice you come up!”

 

 The indigo boy scoffed, eyebrows furrowing in a way that Nanashi couldn’t help but pay attention to. “Are you kidding me? I’ve been trying to get your attention for a while now. Sometimes, I wonder what the hell sort of thoughts that brain of yours comes up with…”

 

 Nanashi floundered, jumping up from his seat and waving his arms in defense. “Oh, no! I, I… uh…”

 

 Natsukage almost looked worried for a second. Nanashi couldn’t have that, not when Natsukage didn’t even like him enough to understand what Nanashi was worried about.

 

 “I, I was just thinking of how amazing junk food is, y’know!?” The white-haired boy babbled. “Cuz’, like, it’s totally one of the greatest things in the world and I think I would just cease to exist if it wasn’t a thing! Heh…”

 

 Nanashi took in the momentary look of bewilderment on Natsukage’s face before it faded to a disinterest as the boy twirled a piece of his hair around. Nanashi was almost mesmerized enough by the movement of the pink streaks to not feel disheartened at the other teen’s attitude.

 

 Almost.

 

 But then, when Natsukage turned his face away from Nanashi and it looked like he was just going to walk away, he said three simple words: “I like that.”

 

 Nanashi was at a loss, so he just played along.

 

 “Huh!? You like junk food too, Natsukage?” He asked excitedly. “I mean, I knew you liked ice cream, but you never mentioned---”

 

 “Not that,” the other teen interrupted. “I wasn’t talking about junk food.”

 

 Nanashi visibly deflated. “Oh? Then, what is it you _were_ talking about?”

 

 Natsukage turned back to face Nanashi, a slight smile on his face. “You, talking about stuff you like. You’ve been doing it more often lately and I gotta say, it’s way better than you degrading yourself like you used to when we first met…”

 

 The boy’s face got a bit dark for a moment, just ever so briefly, before he turned on his heel.

 

 “C’mon,” he called back to Nanashi as he began to leave the room. “You wasted some of my time so you’re gonna buy me some ice cream from the old lady’s place, got it?”

 

 It took Nanashi way too long to process that _Natsukage_ of all people was the one instigating contact with _him_. So long, in fact, that Natsukage was already out of the room by the time he caught up with him.

 

 “So.. uh, choco-banana for you then?” Nanashi asked, hoping to score some of the other teen’s favor by mentioning his favorite flavor.

 

 Natsukage hummed, twirling his hair a little again, and Nanashi realized this motion could also mean contemplation.

 

 “Nah… I think I’ll try something different today. Strawberry, maybe, or cotton candy. Dunno why, but I’m craving something pink.”

 

 Nanashi was pretty sure the sight of Natsukage eating something pink would give him a heart attack but he trudged on anyway, smiling all the while.

 

 For a long time, it had been impossible to tell whether his own smile was genuine or not but for this one moment, he knew for sure.

 

And for this one moment, he let the possibility enter his mind, just the briefest consideration, that maybe allowing himself to like some stuff more than others was more normal than he first thought… at least, it had to be okay if it would make Natsukage happy.

 

 He gave Natsukage a big grin when they stepped into the elevator.

 

 “Okay then, _Orkun_.”

 

 Natsukage sputtered and the blush was _so_ worth making it past any anguish Nanashi had felt.

**Author's Note:**

> Soooo... I'd planned not to touch fanfiction again, at least not for a while so I could work on my own original projects, but as I simply couldn't push the urge to write this down, I had to post it SOMEWHERE, and since I've basically already said goodbye to fanfiction . net and wattpad - and since ao3 has a waaaay larger catalog of 1bitHeart stuff already (much of which was really fun to read, good job everyone of this small fandom) -- here we are!
> 
> Hope everyone who read it enjoyed! I can't promise I'll make many more fanfics here but... it might be fun on this site to try out some new ideas that I couldn't on the old sites for the sake of the fics I was already working on. We'll see.


End file.
